OT: Are you rooting for Notre Dame?

Naturally, Michigan fans are born with a disdain for Notre Dame. Recent years, however, have given us a more than sufficient dislike of any and all things SEC. That being said, who will you be rooting for in the NC game?

For me, my hatred of the SEC will win out here and I'll be rooting for the Irish.

Would rather root for the SEC to win it's 100th in a row, including Saban grabbing his 4th, then root for ND. I don't like Brian Kelly, I don't like most of their fans, and I'm quite sure that if their was the suspicion of football-player-rape-turned-bullying that led to a female student's suicide at Alabama, ND fans would be falling all over themselves to smear Bama*... instead, all I hear about is Saint Te'o (who, it hardly needs to be said, does seem like an incredible kid).

*Not trying to stir shirt from the thread about that WashPost blog from last month; rather, I merely think it's safe to say that ND fans would be at their sanctimonious best if something like that was alleged at another school.

For me that was the worst part about the Heisman fight between Aggies and Domers. Hearing Domer fans trying to smear Manziel for that bar-fight he was involved with, when their players are hardly squeaky clean

In one way, it makes sense...considering our close loss to them earlier this year, seeing them go all the way is a small validation. But the downside is that I have to listen to them thump their collective chest all winter, spring and fall until next season. I really can't say enough times how much I hate the ESSS EEEE SEEEE.

Another National Championship for Notre Dame isn't good for our recruiting Midwestern prospects. We'll lose the strong Catholics to ND fairly often as it is (e.g. Midland, MI OT Steve Elmer), and I'd rather they not have this to throw against us.

Alabama already has recent championships which help with recruiting. A third won't change how recruits view them nearly as much as an ND championship will help them.

They basically fit the mold of a B1G team and a win by them will help out everyone not in the SEC, esp the B1G bc we will get to play them next season.

Also, the SEC is 3-3 in bowls right now. They lose the NC and that means UF, LSU, and Bama all lost. These are consistently considered the best teams in the SEC. They all lose and maybe we won't see 5 of the top 7 on next years poll in the SEC. Esp if OU beats a&m and the SEC has a losing bowl record...

This will go along way to helping out the B1G as well.

As far as ND recruiting vs. UM, the damage is already done. Win or lose they will be a tough beat on the recruiting trail. For the above reasons I say go ND.

No one outside of the Big Ten thinks like that though. No one gives a shit about academics, all they care about is ESS EEE SEE SPEED. If ND wins, I guarantee you no one will be talking about their graduation rate. It doesn't help the Big Ten at all, in fact it hurts everyone in the region in recruiting. Sure, they've already got the hype train rolling, but you really think Brian Kelly flashing his NC ring in front of recruits a la Urban Meyer won't have a huge effect? The net result of ND winning is overwhelmingly negative IMO, where as Alabama winning will essentially be expected and status quo.

I was talking about the perception as a northern/midwest team. The MSM has this view as do most CFB fans. I mean we compete with them in recruiting right and we recruit the midwest heavily with some CA, and FL sprinkled in.

Nobody looks at ND and thinks SPEED. ND winning will help debunk some of the perception of the SEC which is a positve for UM and the B1G. At this point anything hurting the SEC is positive for the B1G.

What good is beating ND in recruiting if the SEC has 2 or 3 teams in the CFB top 4/playoffs every year? As it stands now the SEC will get 2 every year so everyone else (B1G included) is figting for 2 spots. In that world do you like UM's chances? In that world the B1G championship isn't enough, you need to be undefeated. Or at least not lose after October.

Yeah, I misinterpreted your post. The point remains though, while it'd be great for a non SEC team to win it, when that team is one of your team's two primary rivals in recruiting, it's still a net negative.

IMO you are greatly overestimating the geography knowledge of the average college football fans. There are educated coastal types whose USA map consists of NYC, LA, Florida, and a couple of ski resorts in Colorado. Ask them where Michigan is relative to Montana and you'll get a blank stare. You think they know where ND is?

I'm exaggerating just a bit. ND is a "national" school to most people. Its actual location is irrelevant.

I hate the SEC but it is what it is, Alabama losing isn't going to change anything. On the other hand, ND winning will refuel their hype train for another century, you'd never hear the end of their "Return to Glory." Their delusional fans will demand ND be treated like NC contenders every year even as they go 9-3, which is where they should have been this year if not for extraordinary luck and favorable calls by refs. Even if they weren't ND, I still couldn't stomach rooting for them because they frankly don't belong there. They also compete with us directly in recruiting.

I hate them because they think they're special, that they deserve to be relevant despite decades of mediocraty and the hype they manage to continue generating because of their large fanbase, not their product on the field. I hate that they don't think they need to be part of a conference. I hate their sweetheart deal with their own network complete with homer announcers fawning over every thing they do. Above all, I hate the fact they think they have a monopoly on tradition and academic excellence.

I understand your points about the conference and their TV deal, though the latter seems more like jealousy. I just don't find the fact that they have a large fanbase or the fact that they have been mediocre to be reason enough for me to "hate" them.

Also, I'm not really sure about them thinking they have a monopoly on tradition or academic excellence. I would hope they would see Michigan as very similar in both regards.

that actually got an MGoDiscussion on the book started on the front page. I had it as my signature from that post until early-2012 or so, when I went to linking to a family business in Ann Arbor, then went back to it when Brian emailed about moderating about a month ago since I thought the linking might not be as appropriate any more.

I've been toying with changing it in the past week or so, but I haven't come up with anything that tops a positive quote about Hoke mixed with an Atlas reference.

ND fans/alumni have no self-awareness. They do not feel they have equals in academics, football, community service or religion. I have not met an ND alumnus who has the ability to be critical of himself or his school. 20+ years of bolivia did nothing to their ego. If I'm jealous of anything, it's this.

Maybe some of it is true of Michigan fans, but this is a Michigan Blog, and I am a Michigan Fan. If anything, it's even more reason for us to be natural enemies. And it's not jealousy, it's about bringing delusional fans down a peg.

Yes, no question. My step-dad is an alum, and I've got good friends that went there as well. My biggest problem with ND fans is that they act as if ND has unparalleled tradition. So that's what holds me back... but we're not just rooting against Alabama... we're rooting against the SEC. The SEC has been riding the coat tails of Alabama, LSU (and i guess Florida, but Urban's gone.)

As much as it does the HYPE and the 1 month build up of the NC game. In this sense ND already has the recruiting benefit whether they win or not. They have been near the top of the polls for 3 mths now.

They will get the recurting bump no matter what. What matters is the polls and league perceptions. ND to many is considered a northern B1G like school. Then beating the SEC does more for Michigan and has te potential to lower the rankings of pre season SEC teams next year then Bama winning and another summer of SEC media hype.

Perception is also key heading into the 4 team playoff in a couple years.

Not a chance! I hope the Tide destroy them.
I'm really happy that Ohio had they're sanctions this season so I don't have to see those 2 play each other in the title game. I'm pretty sure I would have felt obligated to put a gun barrel in my mouth if that would have happened.

Just because people don't understand the idea of oversigning and don't understand that oversigning is a major reason for the recent success of Bama Football doesn't mean I have to root for the insufferable traditionalist garbage spewers in South Bend.

I hate Bama just as I hated USC , Miami, etc. but I have always hated Notre Dame. Evene when they were a flaming pile of fat shit i still hated them. I will always hate them. Too cool for the party, eh? Too much tradition, huh? Rudy? Fuck off.

I can't believe any michigan fan would even consider rooting for nd in this game! I mean does it really matter if the sec wins another title??? Who cares! We don't have any rivals in the sec and hardly play against them. If notre dame wins u don't think the media would love them like they do the sec right now? Of course they would and it might be worse considering the fact that they'll wanna believe nd is "back". No brainer who to root for

I hate it too, but it is within the rules. Just as when we (Michigan) had no limit to scholorships because we had seemingly endless funding from donors. We just did it first and it wasn't fair, but it was within the rules. I don't like it either and am proud that the B1G won't allow it, but those are the rules. NCAA! Woo!

It's time for this insufferable SEC talk to end. Notre Dame will be silenced when we play them at home next year, but if Alabama wins, there will NEVER EVER be an end to this "ESS EEE SEE" talk. UGHHHH.

Alabama losing won't even move the needle, one loss isn't going to change the narrative. SEC hype isn't going to end until they stop oversigning. Until then, they will have the recruiting advantage they need to stay atop the pile.

Instead it'll be how great ND is because they managed to beat an SEC team, not that the SEC team wasn't that good.

Nah, most of the SEC hype comes from the fact that they have won the national title for the last 4 or 5 years. With Florida getting smashed Louisville and SEC teams struggling with lower Big 10 teams this year, analysts have been saying that until the SEC loses a national championship game, they will always be considered the best conference, but the gap between the SEC and other conferences isn't as wide as previously thought.

If you think a loss next season is going to stop the Notre Dame won a national championship talk. It may take another 20 years to end.

And if the SEC loses the game, they'll have won 6 of 7. You think that's going to stop the talk? So, when the SEC is finally beat, the best conference will be the team that dethroned them....oh, wait, Notre Dame isn't in a conference. So the other team in the national title game is from....the SEC.

Sanctimonious hypocrisy is the most abhorrent of character traits. The SEC has many faults, but that is not one of them. SEC schools unabashedly run their programs as football factories that happen to have universities attached to them. They don't brag about their graduation rates or "winning with class" while their coaches are out killing student managers or ignoring rape accusations against their players.

Also, if Notre Dame turns out to be the school that snaps the SEC's streak, we'll never hear the end of it from their annoying fans. I want the SEC's streak to end, but not at the hands of Notre Dame.

After torturing them recently minus this years fiasco. ND is a great visiting stadium to attend with a respectful fan base. Of the 3 rivals its more of a respect thing than hate. They also have that leather looking, spitting, mascot over at ESPN

I now hate this school with a passion. I will cover my hands with my face in disgust if they win. To be honest, I think shit will hit the fan in 5 years or so because I have personal friends who witnessed the ND players commit the actions they were accused of by multiple news sources (see news sources on previous board posts). This season will be wiped and ND will fall off the map from that incident as PSU has.
Rolllllll Damn Tide

Living in Chicago, the Domers just recently stopped crowing about their 1988 championship. And, if you think Lou Holtz has slobbered the pat several years over marginally relevant ND teams, try thinking about how unbearable the next decade would be if they win this year.

There's three teams I will always root agains in their bowl games. Our three rivals. Roll Tide, but after you roll, please come up with a new derivative of "Roll Tide" because the lack of variety to your cheers is maddening.

How is this even a question? Bama wins, it's status quo. ND winning a title would be a fate worse than death. Nbc is already simply impossible to watch from all the ball washing as it is. Plus I know way too many little leprechauns that run their damn mouths way too much already. It'd be like freakbass playing in my ears constantly for a decade. You'd better pray that Alabama wins.

But I am not planning on watching the game because I cannot bring myself to pull for Alabama either.

I hope to see a score of 45-13 Bama when I wake up the following morning. In the end, I prefer Bama because one more SEC national championship will be a lot less painful than ND fans gloating for the next 25 years about their one year of glory in the last 25 years.

Plus, we recruit head to head with ND too much and they were classless in the way they cancelled the UM/ND series. To hell with Notre Dame.

I think it will be close, as Alabama's strength on offense (running) plays into ND's strength on D, but I definitely will not be rooting for ND, even though I also dislike Saban.

To help solve this, I likely won't even watch the game except perhaps the end if it is close. I object to the BCS anyway (I'm an 8-team playoff guy), and don't think it will be a particularly exciting game, so why torture myself with two teams I dislike to boot? Life is too short.

Yup. Sure will. I don't like it, but as I've said before (there was a similar thread before) everyone in south Florida who doesn't root for Miami/FSU/UF seems to root for either Bama or ohio. I'm not even sick of the SEC. I'm sick of them and their made up championships and their bandwagon fans. Sick and tired. Go Irish.

2. Tide Blowout - Mostly for selfish reasons to confirm what I've been telling my ND alumni friends - that their season thus far has been essentially a 7-win season with some incredibly lucky breaks that have gone their way to make them undefeated.

3. ND narrow win - Giving the SEC a losing record and at least slightly tempering their god-aweful arrogance.

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100. ND blowout - This would be the worst scenario because I'd have to listen to said ND alumni friends rant about how they're back, even though they are clearly not.

No. That whole SEC elitism thing has already been watered down by the losses and close games against what were suppose to be inferior opponents. Even if it weren't ND, it'd be hard to root for any team to win the NC after such a bullshit season.

ND is a competitive rivalry, so normally I'd root against them, but Bama's blatant disregard for the overall well-being of all the athletes on their roster (oversigning) is something I can't support. I will hold my nose and root for the Irish.

to hell with ND. yeah, the prospect of getting the defending national champions at home next year is cool, but i'm rooting for alabama. when we played alabama, they flat out kicked our ass in every phase of the game. they were the better team, and i can live with that. when we lost to ND, despite Denard's poor performance, the defense gave us every opportunity to win that game. we threw 6 picks and lost by one damn TD. that's hard to stomach, and now, they're in the title game. bama's where they are because they were better than everyone else. nd is there because everything that could have gone right for them did at the best possible time.

I can deal with another Alabama win and another SEC win. Whatever. They have a dominant program and I hope we can challenge that in the future. A ND win means hearing about it from their fans for the next 20-30 years and it'd help their recruiting immensely. To Hell with Notre Dame!!!

There's a big problem here. If Alabama wins, even if the rest of the SEC teams lose their bowl games, the hype will still be there. If Alabama loses then the media might jump on the ''Is football in the north coming back?'' OR they forget about the SEC and everyone else completely and just slurp all over Notre Dame.

ND competes with Michigan, in it's own backyard, for the midwest/academic/big-time sports/tradition trophy. Alabama can wear the football factory crown without bothering us too much, but those ND graduation rates and academic rankings bother us. Northwestern graduation rates and academic rankings bother us a little, too, but we have big-time sports, so there.

Someone mentioned already that ND fans are not self-aware. They are also oblivious to the rest of college sports. No wonder they have their own network and no league- they are the only thing that matters. I know, Fremeau and all, but the average ND fan that I have known does not care a flying flip about college sports anyplace else.

I hate both of the teams anyway, so weighing which team I hate more doesn't make sense to me. I want to think of what is best for Michigan football.

I laugh every time I hear a Michigan fan say they would rather root for Bama. Simply put, Notre Dame (as much as I dislike them) winning the NC game is better for college football.

The SEC "dominance" and "SEC is the measuring stick" stigmas are outplayed and old. There are many BCS schools that would be great if they could oversign recruits, and then just pull the scholarships of the players that don't pan out.

With Florida and LSU already losing their bowl games, Nebraska putting up 30+ on the SEC champ runner up, it would be good for football for Notre Dame to win and have the SEC go 0-2 in BCS bowl games. Just kick them down a notch.

Michigan wasn't prepared at all for bama, the only team on our schedule to blow us out. Michigan picked it up fast and Notre Dame had to get 5-6 turnovers, at home, to beat us by 7. Simply put, it is better for Michigan to have Notre Dame win the NC. This would give Michigan the first realistic crack, at home in 2013, to knock off the reigning national champ on national telivision at night.

Remove your blinders of hate and think of what is best for Michigan. Notre Dame winning is good for college football and is good for Michigan.

That's what I'm thinking. If Notre Dame wins, it may REALLY give recruits second thoughts about flocking to the SEC. Notre Dame will always recruit well and we will always recruit well. Brady has a national championship ring as an assistant coach that he probably shows recruits too.

If Notre Dame wins this it may be a huge favor to everyone in college football outside the SEC. Besides we're not even going to be playing Notre Dame in a couple years.

I will NEVER root for ND UNLESS they are playing tosu. Of course then I root for a 3-3 tie with 20 turnovers and 300 yards in penalties.

I would love to see Bama win 87-0 and Brian Kelly to turn so purple that Barney is jealous.

Afterwards, Saban admits college bores him and he goes to the Bears. Brian Kelly goes to the Chargers and Chip Kelly goes to KC. Urban Meyer bolts for ND and Douchetonio goes to tosu, where he fails miserably

...for 'Bama to take ND to the woodshed. If ND has a scoring drive of more than 4 plays I'll be stunned. If 'Bama avoids the big play, Irish don't score. Their O is garbage and Saban's had a month to prepare.

No where, in any corner of the infinite multiverse, will I ever pull for Notre Dame. All of my infinite doppelgangers hate Notre Dame with the power of a black hole.

May Alabama score 99 points, outgain ND by 950 yards, force 10 turnovers, possess the ball for 55 minutes, win 3 challenges, and have better looking cheerleaders that get more air time. I hope when Brian Kelly's head turns purple (and it will) someone smacks him in the back so it freezes that way. May that leprechaun guy contract something that stings, but is curable with penicillin.

I root for State and the Buckeyes in spades over ND which has to be the most entitled, self adoring bunch of snobs...and 99% of those a-hole fans didn't even go to that little cottage dump of a campus. Read their message boards and you will hear nothing but a bunch of crotchety old racists wishing that they had an all-white, all-Catholic team like in the 40s or the "good old days.."

As far as the Michigan alum/fan comparison, I suppose all who cheer for theirs can be accused of the same. But ND more than any other tradition has a unique set of elitist qualities that even the biggest Michigan slappy can't match (independence; self-appointed near ivy status; etc...) for d-baggery.

Eff them and their apostate traditions. Yes, Roll Tide! Yes, Alabama has a more admirable fan base, believe it.

Alabama and the SEC and Nick Saban represent everything that is wrong with college football, from greyshirts to 1 year scholarships to over-signing to football worship over even a hint of academics or behavorial standards.